Thursday, March 5, 2015

Plant Breeders Rights Bill and food security

Mrs Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong (hands
raised), the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, touring an
eggplant farm (greenhouse) at The Hague.

The world is said to be losing 25 to
33 per cent of the food it produces – nearly four billion metric tonnes,
according to environmentalists. Poor storage facilities and
distribution networks are largely to blame for such glut. With the
world’s population expected to hit nine billion by 2050, demand for food
would shoot up by 60 per cent or more.

United Nation’s Hunger agency has predicted political turmoil, social
unrest, civil war and increased terrorist activities in the next few
decades if food production is not increased by 60 per cent or more.

Food is a basic necessity, which must be accessible by all but that
is not the case in most parts of Africa and Asia – where hunger and
malnutrition among children are rife. The Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) estimates that 842 million in the world remain
malnourished, with nearly a third of them living in the Asia-Pacific. It
also estimates that one in four children under age five is stunted as a
result of malnutrition.

There are growing demands for food and other crops but the pace of research into food production is slow.

Ghana and food production

Ghana is blessed with vast arable lands but not much investment has
been made in the agricultural sector. It is an annual affair to read
reports of food crops and vegetables going waste as a result of poor
storage facilities and poor road networks to cart food supplies from the
farms to market centres.

Ghana’s neighbour, Burkina Faso, supplies Ghana’s market with fresh
tomatoes and onions. Tomato varieties from that country are preferred
over Ghana’s, which are usually referred to as “local tomatoes.” The
tomato variety from Burkina Faso is much more expensive than the local
tomatoes because it tastes nicer and has a longer shelf life than the
local tomatoes. That brings to the fore the issue of plant varieties.

Plant Varieties

I was part of a team that followed the Attorney-General and Minister
of Justice, Mrs Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong, who led the Parliamentary
Committee on Constitutional and Legislative Drafting to the Hague to
understudy how Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) had been implemented in The
Netherlands. The horticultural and seed propagating industry contributes
more than nine billion Euros to the Netherlands’ economy on an annual
basis.

The Netherlands is a leading provider of improved seed varieties to
almost all parts of the world. It is a thriving industry, which has
invested time, energy, research and resources into ensuring food
security for its citizens and the other nationals across the world. It
boasts of having the largest floral auction in the world where hundreds
of florists meet daily to purchase fresh flowers for export to other
countries. The floral auction alone accrues an annual 4.5 billion euros.

Controversy

What then has Ghana got to do with plant varieties and plant breeders
rights? Ghana has currently drafted a bill on plant breeders rights and
it is awaiting parliamentary approval. The bill, when passed into law,
would give creators of plant varieties legal protection and thus block
commercial farmers from harvesting, preserving and re-using the seeds.
In the Netherlands, for instance, it is illegal to re-use varieties for
whatever purpose.

The law makes it mandatory for farmers to purchase seeds every year.
The Agricultural Sovereignty Ghana (FSG), the Peasant Farmers
Association and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have opposed
the PBB on the grounds that it would throw small-scale farmers out of
business. Others have maintained improved seeds contained poisonous
substances that could negatively affect consumers when introduced in
Ghana. Supporters of the bill, however, are of the view that protecting
creators of the new plant varieties would promote food sustainability as
more plant breeders would be encouraged to come up with more improved
varieties.

Issues

As I write, fresh tomatoes, onions and many food crops from Burkina
Faso and other countries are preferred over locally produced ones on the
grounds that they last longer and taste better. Research into
agriculture to improve food security is virtually non-existent.
Meanwhile, Ghana’s population is increasing by the day. How long will
Ghana toe the path of peasant farming? How long will Ghana produce and
get half of its products going waste in the farms because of poor
transportation and poor variety? I recently witnessed how investment in
agriculture in the Netherlands rakes in billions of euros on an annual
basis for that country. Flowers are not edible products but they rake in
more than five billion euros annually.

Ghana’s population keeps rising, thereby making it necessary for food
production to be improved. The world’s climate and taste of consumers
are evolving. The Netherlands and other developed countries have
invested heavily in food research and are reaping the benefits today.
While in that country, I managed to procure a book titled ‘’Framework
for the Introduction of Plant Breeder’s Rights – Guidance for Practical
Implementation,’’ authored by A.J.P Wijk and N. P. Louwaars. The
207-page book details plant breeders rights and how those rights have
been implemented for the benefit of all stakeholders.

It is unfortunate the issue of plant breeders rights has still not
been resolved in Ghana. There are concerns on seeds that would be
harnessed when the Bill is passed into law.

The Netherlands has surmounted all those challenges and it is key for
Ghana to adopt pragmatic measures to resolve all concerns raised by
critics. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Attorney-General’s
Department, Parliament and critics must resolve all issues pertaining to
the PBB and come out with a resolution that would eventually propel
Ghana’s agriculture to the next level. Picketing, levelling unwarranted
allegations and counter-accusations are certainly not the way to go. The
future of Ghana’s food security lies in the hands of all.